There are a variety of interactive electronic media devices in which a medium such as a book is placed on or in a device platform. The platform may include a detection system able to determine the portion of the book to which the user points. The platform then generates an appropriate response to the user. Such interactive books are sometimes known as “talking books,” although more generally an interactive book may use audio and visual outputs to interact with a user. Typically, an interactive media device provides an audio output related to a position on a printed page. For example, an interactive media device for children may speak the names of words that the child points to with a stylus. As another example, the interactive media device initiates a game when the child points at a picture. Although interactive media device are commonly sold as children's toys, they also have numerous other potential applications as well, for example, providing an interactive media experience to a user.
Thus, in order to interact with the user, the interactive media device must know what book or other document is in the device, what page or pages are currently facing the user, and to which portion of the page the user is pointing. Typically, the cost of the components needed to learn all of this information is quite high. Moreover, other problems exist with conventional solutions to learn this information.
One technique for identifying a location to which a user is referring in an interactive media device is an array of switches disposed in the device below the document. U.S. Pat. No. 6,608,618 to Woods et al. discloses pressure sensitive switches having upper and lower conductive regions not in contact absent applied pressure. When a user applies pressure to a switch, the device detects the closing of an electrical circuit. While such a technique is effective, a less expensive technique is desirable.
Another technique for identifying a location to which a user is referring in an interactive media device is an electrographic sensing system comprising antennas. U.S. Pat. No. 6,661,405 to Flowers discloses a technique comprising an antenna system and signal strength detector. Different voltages are applied to different areas of the antenna system, such that position is detectable based on signal strength. For example, the user touches or nearly touches the device with a stylus that is electrically coupled to a processor. Based on the strength of signal from the antennas, the processor determines the location to which the user is pointing. This technique is effective; however, it requires the use of a stylus or other component to read the signal strength. Also, a less expensive technique is desirable.
As previously discussed, the interactive media device must also know the page of the document that currently faces the user. Some conventional devices require the user to contact a region of the page to allow the device to know which page is being displayed. Typically, the user point to or touches the stylus to a symbol on the page. A drawback of this technique is that the user must remember to point to particular symbol on each page of the device so that the output can be correctly associated with the symbols and text on a particular page. If the user forgets to touch the pointer to the required symbol, the interactive media device will not know which page is open. Thus if a child fails to touch the symbol after turning the page, the child is confronted with audio signals and other feedback that do not correspond to the content of the current page, which reduces the interactive experience for the child.